From the Big Breakfast ….

Bill Wiggin MP with butchers Dave and Matthew Waller
Bill Wiggin MP with butchers Dave and Matthew Waller
Bill the Bell with Pork and Two Veg on the market
Bill the Bell with Pork and Two Veg on the market
Enjoying the Big Brunch at the Talbot Hotel
Enjoying the Big Brunch at the Talbot Hotel
Market House Cafe breakfasters
Market House Cafe breakfasters

More photos below:

Sorry for the interruption …

Sorry for the interruption to our web site service over the last couple of days. We were hacked. Because of this, we have moved to a new hosting service a couple of weeks before we had planned.

It is in the nature of the world wide web that links take a little while to settle down again after being disrupted and you may still experience occasional strange behaviour. Please bear with us. We are fundamentally safe and sound and are back on track.

Please keep coming back to read about our local food in Ledbury.

 

Breakfast…

…the name should give us a clue to how important the first meal of the day is. Unless we have been sneaking down for a midnight snack it is likely to be 10 or more hours since we ate anything when that alarm clock rings – we are allowed to be hungry! Dieticians and nutritionists have been saying for ages that we shouldn’t skip breakfast, not even if we are trying to lose weight – actually especially if we are trying to lose weight. How much more likely are you to reach for a snack mid-morning if you haven’t eaten since the night before? A good breakfast provides the energy we need to get us and our brains going.

As part of Farmhouse Breakfast Week a group of Ledbury businesses are offering everyone a really delicious breakfast on Friday 25th and Saturday 26th of January. For example at The Talbot there will be a special Ledbury Big Breakfast Brunch, recalling the days of railway dining and featuring anecdotes from railway historian Gareth Calan Davies. As with all the breakfasts in and around Ledbury this weekend each & every bit of food will be locally produced.

Our three fantastic butchers are offering local bacon, eggs and sausages, you will be able to sample them and I believe there are some specials offers on too. And if you have never tasted wild boar, then you can go to Llandinabo Farm Shop and have a Forest of Dean Wild Boar bap – I might see you there!

You don’t eat meat? Don’t despair, there are plenty of other things on offer. Handley Organics are offering their range of locally produced scotch eggs from The Handmade Scotch Egg Company in Bishops Frome. These include gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian scotch eggs as well as traditional ones, and they are all delicious. Just down the road at Four Oaks Delicatessen you can buy their own muesli and local fruit purée pots with a 10% reduction for the 2 days of the event. Also on offer are individual breakfast frittatas with local eggs, potato, mushroom and bacon.

And Ledbury’s cafes are offering a mouth-watering selection, from Eggs Benedict, Eggs Florentine and a Fisherman’s Breakfast (Smoked Mackerel and Poached Egg) with a free filter coffee at Sez to a continental style buffet breakfast with a twist at the Muse Café in the Homend. Choices will include Pimhill muesli, savoury filled croissants, savoury and sweet muffins, local breads, cold meat and cheeses, delicious fruit compote with local yoghurt.

All in all, fifteen local businesses are offering a fantastic range of locally produced food, details will be on the website shortly. So whether you fancy the monster Breakfast at Nice Things or the smoked salmon and scrambled eggs at Blue Fuchsia there will be a breakfast for you in Ledbury that weekend!

Welcome to the blog! (and start your Christmas shopping)

Would I like to start a blog about local food?  It would mean going round to local food growers, producers and suppliers, sampling their wares, talking to them and writing about it…

I had heard of the Ledbury Food Group, taken part in the original survey and been interested in what was happening now, so I was intrigued. And they weren’t to know just how interested in food I am, so I tried not to sound too keen – or greedy.  But actually I was going “yippee”, and so far everyone I have mentioned the blog to has asked to come along!

That is the thing about this part of the country.  People are genuinely enthusiastic about local produce – and with good reason.  Moving here five years ago I was delighted to discover how delicious the local meat, poultry and game was, to find that the fruit & veg I was buying came from down the road, and to realize just how many local cider and perry producers were within a stone’s throw of my house. As well as delivering delicious produce that reaches a wide audience, and being businesses that hold their own in a very competitive market, providing jobs for local people, these producers are rooted in the landscape and history of the area – and I think you can taste that in what they offer.  Read the interview with Once Upon A Tree producer Ann Stanier to feel that sense of place.

So, where do I start?  Watch this space for news about people starting new foodie ventures, for profiles of old favourites and for anything of interest to do with food that is going on within a 30 mile radius of Ledbury.  I hope I can expand your knowledge of what is out there, and make you think about some of the issues around local food.

Contact me (melissa@ledburyfoodgroup.org) if there are places you have come across that you think everyone should know about, or even ones that you have just heard about and would like to know more – I can’t wait to get going!

Finally, although I disapprove of getting organised for Christmas too early, it has dawned upon me that it is looming, and I came across this yesterday, hot off the press (Tilley’s, of course!  See about this long-established Ledbury business on http://www.ledburyportal.co.uk/portal/ )  So here is an idea for the perfect present for local food-lovers (easy to post too)  Tinsmiths’ 2013 Letterpress Calendar offers an ingredient for each month and invites you to look at their blog for maybe a recipe or an activity to do with it.  January’s is water, and promises a walk to fetch water from the Malvern Hills, but I’m looking forward to blackcurrants in July, oh and bangers in November – intriguing! See it under Accessories (Books and Stationery) on their website: http://shop.tinsmiths.co.uk/index.php

 

Damson event in Ludlow

Where: Orleton Village Hall, Orleton, Ludlow SY8 4HW
When: Sunday, 7th October, 2012
Admission: FREE

Discover, Cook and Taste Shropshire Prune Damsons

• 10.00 – 10.30 Welcome. Tea, Coffee, Damson Mingling
• 10.30 – 11.30 Kids Cook Damson Chocolate Brownies with Easy Peasy
• 11.00 – 11.30 Caring for Damson Trees: Your Damson Tree Questions Answered
• 11.30 – 12.00 Shropshire Prune Damson Campaign Corner
• 12.00 – 12.45 Damson Dessert Demonstration with Will Holland
• 12.45 – 14.00 Damson Themed Lunch
• 14.00 -14.30 Tips & Techniques for Damson Dishes with The Ludlow Jam Pan
• 14.30 – 15.00 Judging of the Damson Cookery Competition
• 15.00 Afternoon Tea and Close of the Day

More info at http://www.shropshireprunedamson.com/programme-for-damson-day-2012